The Cardinals and right-hander Dustin May have agreed to a one-year contract, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Saturday. The club has not confirmed the deal.
Still just 28 years old, May entered free agency as one of the youngest and most intriguing players on the market.
The right-hander’s career has been a long and winding journey since he debuted in 2019 as a 21-year-old and one of the Dodgers’ top prospects.
When May made his season debut last April, he climbed a Major League mound for the first time in nearly two years. At one point, he went 648 days between appearing in a game at any level. In between, he underwent flexor tendon surgery – his second major elbow procedure – and an emergency operation for an esophageal tear.
In 2025, May pitched to a 4.96 ERA in 25 games (23 starts) between the Dodgers and Red Sox. Boston acquired him in a trade at the Deadline, seeking to bolster the back end of its rotation. That didn’t exactly work, as May posted a 5.40 ERA and spent most of September on the IL with forearm soreness.
But his 2025 season was a clear success, as May managed to stay relatively healthy. He threw more innings – 132 1/3 – last season than he did from 2021-24 combined. So long as May can stay on the field, there’s still plenty of upside here.
That starts with his pitch mix. May’s sweeper is his go-to offering to both left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters, and for good reason. It touts outlier side-to-side movement, with 16.9 inches of average horizontal break. That pairs well with his sinker, which breaks an average of 18.9 inches in the opposite direction – mirroring his sweeper. May is able to generate such extreme horizontal movement from a low arm slot.
Before needing Tommy John surgery in May 2021, May had the makings of a legitimate star. He carried a 2.93 ERA through his first 31 career appearances and was a key part of the Dodgers’ World Series-winning team in 2020
